Maher waltzes onto "The View" and delivers a prepared line that is obviously structured to reach out to the female daytime-TV audience. Joy Behar prompts him to talk about Sandusky, and Maher begins:

You'd like this...

(Because you're a woman.)

... Any institution where there's no women around — like The Church, like football, like the Middle East, like fraternities — it just goes to hell. You do need women as a moderating influence.

You? There's a feminist faux pas right in the middle of his effort at feminism. The audience is female, and he's saying "you" to them, but they are not the "you." Worse than that, seemingly without realizing it, he's dishing out old-fashioned male chauvinism: Women exist to moderate men. Men are the primary force in the world, but too much of that roiling, spewing masculine energy, and there's trouble. Come in, ladies, ground us, soothe us, care for us, tone us down, so our intensity doesn't boil over into destruction.

But Maher assumed — "You'd like this" — that female TV audience would feel flattered and not notice the message of subordination. And he assumed they'd enjoy hearing an insult to men. Quite aside from whether women appreciate negative stereotypes about men, underneath the insult was great pride in male achievements. Some men go too far, but maleness is central, even as femaleness is needed for moderation.

Nevertheless, Maher intended to appeal to women, to embed himself in the context of feminist values. He failed, even before Hasselbeck lit into him, but he did not realize that. He was perched in the center of the curved turquoise sofa, pleased at having presented himself as an admirer of women.

Hasselbeck begins: "That sounded very supportive of women." That is, she could see what he was doing, trying to seem feminist, though she doesn't say that it really was supportive: it sounded supportive.

"And I just want to go back to a time that bothered me... not for my own personal reasons... Forgive this idiotic Republican for bringing this to your brilliant mind..."

Talk about a moderating influence! She's stirring things up.

"In February of last year, Laura Logan was in Egypt and she was brutally attack by a mob there. She came back and said: 'There were hands raping me over and over again, tearing my body in every direction, trying to tear off chunks of my skull. I was in no doubt in the process of dying.'

"Now, prior to her coming back, Bill, you on your show said: 'Now that Hosni Mubarak has released Lara Logan, he must put her intrepid hotness on a plane immediately. In exchange, we will send Elisabeth Hasselbeck.'"

Hasselbeck sums up: "That wasn't that funny."

I'm virtually positive that Maher wasn't ambushed here. I think it was planned that Hasselbeck would read that indignant bit — it's all on paper, with 2 verbatim quotes — and sum up with an attack on the comedian's funniness. She did not cut more deeply. She could have said: You made a joke out of rape and you specifically thought it was funny to say that I should be raped. Is rape funny when it happens to a woman whose ideas you object to? You stood there on TV and named me as a person you'd want to hand over to a mob to be raped to death? That's your show, Bill?!

But she had it on paper, and it had her ending with a simple that's not funny. There's a female stereotype for you! It's the punchline to the old how many feminists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? joke. The "ambush" was gentle, and Maher was prepared:

"We do a comedy show for an audience that's perhaps different than your audience. You are a public figure. It was not aimed at you personally, but when you are a public figure, you are out there and you're fodder for comedians to make comments on."

Asked "Do you draw the line ever?" he responds, elegantly, "I do draw the line, but I also live on the line." He's a male, bursting with creativity and cutting recklessly, unmoderated by females, late at night, on HBO. "You have to be out on the edge to know where that edge is."

Hasselbeck scoffs, "Thanks for being the hero." That is: You're bragging about yourself. She's playing that moderating role assigned to women, dragging him down to earth. She demands an apology. The others on the sofa frame her complaint as a personal affront, because she was named, not a more general attack on Maher for making a joke out throwing a woman to a brutal mob to be raped to death.

If you had it to do over again, would you used that joke, Hasselbeck asks, "if you're so supportive of women"?, and Maher deflects her glibly, but still without acknowledging the gravity of wishing rape on his political opponent. He says: "If I had a crystal ball and knew I was coming here and had to spend my whole segment talking about it, no, I wouldn't. It really wouldn't be worth it."

That is, he still likes his joke, but it's such a pain having to fritter away his book-pimping spot dealing with her that it's not worth it. He brushes her off: "Worse things have happened to people." Worse than hands raping me over and over again, tearing my body in every direction, trying to tear off chunks of my skull? Yeah, it is true. Worse things have happened to people. Thanks for the info, Bill. And here you are, talking to the women daytime TV has been explaining feminist issues to for decades!

Barbara Walters butts in to talk about herself. "I went through years of Baba Wawa. I survived." What a survivor! The message from Walters — who promotes feminism on most occasions, I think — is that Hasselbeck shouldn't take herself so seriously. She needs to learn to take a joke. Gilda Radner's delightfully charming imitation of Walters's speech defect is pretty much the same as Maher snarking about throwing Hasselbeck into a gang rape. Yeah. It's all comedy!

Hasselbeck claims some dignity in the end. She clarifies that it's not about her personal feelings, that she's "speaking on behalf of women," and that accountability is important. It's what she teaches her kids. Yeah, she's a mom. She's nice. She's folded back into the group, properly in place as one of the women on the turquoise sofa, arrayed sweetly around the man... moderating him.

193 comments:

The thing that bugs me the most about Bill Maher the pose of edginess (all that "Politically Incorrect" BS), when in reality he has never in his life uttered a word that wasn't calculated to get applause from the audience in front him. He's a coward pretending to heroism.

The thing that bugs me the most about him probably also bugs Greg Proops. Mahar's stand-up was awful and his wry politicisms very pat and awfully delivered. Proops, cut from the same ideological cloth, was a much better comic and, frankly, holds forth better in serious discussion...but...HE didn't get a show on HBO.

I hate the stupid idea that women are so pure and good. Women like to tell themselves that. "A woman would never have gotten us into war!". It's embarrassing.

I was embarrassed for the women of the view that none of them stood up for Elizabeth or against the rape joke. People in the audience actually laughed when Maher put Elizabeth down in a flaccid effort to make excuses for himself.

1. Bill Maher is an asshole. Always has been. His hard-left, anti-American politics only makes him an even bigger asshole than he'd be otherwise.

2. This shows (as if it needs showing, but some people are so stupid it needs to be pounded into their heads over and over again) the hypocrisy of the all too sensitive, PC left. Terms like "equal rights" and "social justice" are just tools to leverage power: Clinton raping Broderick is dismissed; Clinton hitting on women is dismissed; Maher's wish that Hasselbeck be raped because she's a Republican is dismissed even by the other women (all leftists) on the show as a mere joke. Does one imagine for a moment that such a suggestion for Chelsea Clinton (or any other high-profile, semi-attractive or better young Democrat/leftist woman) would be tolerated as a joke for even a moment?

Of course not.

Otherwise, all the feminist twaddle is just crap - get over yourselves, people - let's start dealing with people as individuals, eh?

Elizabeth Hasselback is an idiot. It's difficult to take anything she says seriously.

I remember a few months ago when Whoopi Goldberg whooped her in an argument. She isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. She takes her job seriously? I mean, I guess, but it's the View. It's not like this is a credible show that people take seriously.

Nothing wrong with calling for gang-rape of idealogical opponents - especially when the rules say it's not even rape without the requisite number of male witnesses saying so.

The proper outcome is declaring the woman a slut and a danger to the morals of those who were powerless to not fuck her. It's a shame she survived, really. Now, Mullah Maher will have to go to the trouble of burying the bitch up to her neck and throwing rocks at her head until she's dead.

I think this is a good analysis of what happened on the show. "Feminism"doesn't stand for much when political interests are at stake. As Prof. Althouse frequently points out, lots of women were willing to throw out their "feminist" values in order to support someone who used and benefited from some of the oldest, most misogynist tactics in his defense. On the View, Walters and Behar, who would not tolerate a rape joke of any leftist, were entirely willing to be lead down the line by a man, in order to please him. Feminist? Nah, that's like Victorian England. Maher, who I would guess describes himself as feminist, makes a joke about rape to score political points against a woman with whom he disagrees. Now, I like dark humor as much as the next guy, but I can't imagine him doing this with a female public figure on the left.

Think back to those days when all them darkies got lynched. Don't you wish we had a time machine so we could send Whoopi Goldberg there.....No, that's not funny. Try this: Think back to those days when all them darkies got lynched. Don't you wish we had a time machine so we could send Herman Cain there.....Now, that's funny, at least to Bill Maher's audience.

Maher may be intelligent, and he always shows in his actions that he thinks he's the most brilliant man in the room. He is annoyingly condescending; sordid with those whom he disagrees. He is the epitome of the Tolerant Left .Yet, the incongruity of his persona is lost on him. My late dad would have called him ofal.

Comedy used to be really funny--look at Jack Benny clips, bob hope clips, and groucho marx (who walked a fine line)--todays comedy is trash--like how many times can you say fuck and have the audience laugh.

Althouse's analysis of Maher's intended compliment confirms there's no right thing for a man to say to a feminist. And the issue isn't that Maher's a shit. The issue is that men exist to be whupped upside the head.

Last week, I was signing up for cable, and one of the choices was HBO. I politely declined, stating that, yes, they have some good movies, but they also wasted a lot of slots with Maher. And, I wasn't going to support him, so no HBO.

I never quite understood why he thought that he was the least bit politically incorrect. Except maybe too far to the left even for a lot of leftists. But, this is just one more example of his lack of political incorrectness.

given my military background, I tend to favor people with whom I would like to be on my side in a firefight--the three i cited meet that criteria--yes, of course they were women. But they were also leaders of their country--and in that role they excelled.

todays comedy is trash--like how many times can you say fuck and have the audience laugh.

Not true at all, Roger. If you want good comedy without fuck every three seconds, check out people like Paul F. Tompkins, Maria Bamford, or, a newcomer, Hannibal Burris. These are just a couple off the top of my head because I've been listening to their new stuff recently.

There are plenty of comics doing plenty of comedy that aren't in the Doug Stanhope vein where everything is controversial and every other word is fuck.

Comedy has actually taken quite a positive turn in the last couple of years, particularly for white comics unafraid to attack racial stereotypes from the opposite direction. Apparently, audiences wanted that. Who couldah thunk it?

Scott M--thanks and I am glad comedy is turning back to funny--I was fortunate to hear Jerry Seinfeld do a gig at the Orphem in Memphis--went thru an hour and a half of really funny stuff and never uttered a profanity--glad to know the landscape might be changing--

"Elizabeth Hasselbeck is an idiot. It's difficult to take anything she says seriously."

So she deserves to be raped. Bitch had it coming, being a stupid Rethuglican, right, Bill?

Does anyone know (I can't be bothered to look it up) if Hasselbeck is married or has a boyfriend? Why haven't they beaten Maher into a coma?

The time was that a man would hunt down a slug like Maher and shove a Lousville Slugger so far up his colon he'd be spitting out slivers. But then again, there was a time when women believed themselves ladies and men gentlemen who should protect their honor.

Great analysis, Ann, you nailed it, thanks. I used to watch The View regularly in the early years, when Clinton was president. Back then it had Meredith Viera and that lawyer (before she became annoying). Based on her celebrity interviews, I had always thought Walters was a ditz, but I learned she was capable of insight. The conversation among the women then was lively and interesting. Then Bush was elected president and Viera left, and the whole show devolved into how-many-ways-can-we-call-Bush-an-idiot-today. Hasselbeck tried to be the voice of restraint, but she was green and uninformed and was always rolled by Behar. Walters decided what-the-hell and showed her true colors. I watched less and less, and then quit watching. Occasionally I'll turn it on to see if it's changed. I was hopeful when Goldberg came on, but unfortunately it's still just an hour of inane drivel.

I don't think it's necessarily feminist to be outraged about what is essentially a rapist's fantasy. First, he identified with the rapist mob by referring to Laura Logan's "hotness". Then he extended it with the imagery of the rape of Hasselbeck. Trading on conventional irony, he simultaneously condemns her to punishment and indulges in a fantasy of her rape.

It's like the way too many of us condone prison rape with a glee that savors another level of extra judicial punishment. This is wrong on a more fundamental level than feminism.

Maher thinks he's better than any woman simply because he is a man. This irritates in the same way as a woman who carries on like she is better than any man simply because she is a woman. The traditional male superiority view would be less irritating if he was himself more traditionally manly and not a little smug prig coasting on the accomplishments of other, more manly, men. He's in the exact same business as the ladies (sometimes disparagingly referred to as "hens") on the View. (And the remark about having a different, somehow more cutting edge, audience is bullshit; obviously the View's audience clapped and laughed at his lame jokes just like the monkeys in the audience on his own show.) Maher's claim to "political incorrectness" has always started and ended with cheap shots at women generally instead of specifically. He gets away with it because the liberal media protects its own. Progressives talk the talk of equal rights, but do not deign to walk the walk.

The point that's lost on her of course is O'Reilly was scolded by those harpies for pointing out 17 Muslims attacked us on 9/11 but lefty Maher wanted Hasselback to get gangraped and they were cool with dat.

Broomstick, maybe .Phallus, maybe. It was a violent and sexist comment toward Hillary, but that's OK, because it's Hillary, right? I said both men were sexist. Poor little flower Elizabeth, mean manly Hillary.

"She could have said: You made a joke out of rape and you specifically thought it was funny to say that I should be raped. Is rape funny when it happens to a woman whose ideas you object to? You stood there on TV and named me as a person you'd want to hand over to a mob to be raped to death? That's your show, Bill?!"

Lara Logan was released from detention by the Egyptian authorities on February 3. Maher made his joke about exchanging Hasselbeck with Logan during his program on February 4. Logan was sexually assaulted while covering the celebrations in Tahrir Square on February 11.

Elizabeth just proved Maher's point by calling him to task for making such a poor joke. I think the larger point is not that men not only need women to soften their rough edges but that liberals need conservatives to disinfect their pathologies. If you're a liberal you live in a mockery free zone. There is much about Jon Corzine that deserves to be ridiculed and pilloried, but he has walked through several scandals without attracting the attention of any of the comedians. The guy with target on his back is Christie. An expanded waist line is some much funnier than the waste of shame that is Corzine's life......If Maher had a female writer, perhaps she'd have said ixnay on the rape jokes. If Maher had a conservative writer, perhaps he could poke a little fun at all these OWS types who campaigned for Corzine's re-election. If frogs had wings....

"Althouse's analysis of Maher's intended compliment confirms there's no right thing for a man to say to a feminist. And the issue isn't that Maher's a shit. The issue is that men exist to be whupped upside the head."

Why should there be a "right thing for a man to say"? How about thinking and being original and genuine and engaging in a real conversation with the person you're talking to? If you come out on the stage thinking you can say the "right thing" and win my favor and I can see what you're doing, you fail! I'm keeping my wits about me, not getting played, being perceptive, and thinking and speaking in real time. Hey, isn't that the name of Maher's show on HBO, "Real Time"? So cut the bullshit and exist in real time, respecting the human beings you're talking to or go away. That's my FEMINIST position. Okay?

"Lara Logan was released from detention by the Egyptian authorities on February 3. Maher made his joke about exchanging Hasselbeck with Logan during his program on February 4. Logan was sexually assaulted while covering the celebrations in Tahrir Square on February 11. Maher wasn't joking about rape."

Interesting. Assuming that's the proper time line, why didn't he respond to Hasselbeck by saying that at the time of joke, the assault had not taken place?

"Interesting. Assuming that's the proper time line, why didn't he respond to Hasselbeck by saying that at the time of joke, the assault had not taken place?"

Ann, the timeline is correct. As far as his answer to Hasselbeck, who knows. You'll have to ask him. Maybe since he wasn't actually joking about sexual assault, he really didn't believe his joke about exchanging Hasselbeck for Logan was a big deal. As he said, he's a comedian and she is a public figure.

Ann, the timeline is correct. As far as his answer to Hasselbeck, who knows. You'll have to ask him. Maybe since he wasn't actually joking about sexual assault, he really didn't believe his joke about exchanging Hasselbeck for Logan was a big deal. As he said, he's a comedian and she is a public figure.

"The obvious inference is that he wanted to press forward with his mirthmaking about rape and the picture of Elisabeth Hasselbeck getting killed by an Egyptian mob."

Not surprisingly, you'd love to believe that, wouldn't you? Of course, it's also just as possible that he didn't really care or simply forgot the dates. This happened over 9 months ago; it's not like it was recent.

The dates are absolutely correct, though. A quick factcheck shows that Hasselbeck (happy with the spelling?) tried to construe this as something it wasn't. I know she claims she takes her job seriously, but let's be realistic--this it The View. There's nothing serious about it.

What Allie doesnt grasp is Maher went on the View as a defender of women and how wonderful and moderating they are in our society

While I live in "society" I can really only comment on the my own life and those around me. I have a real problem with women being considered "moderating" on men simply by the benefit of their fairer gender.

There has always been more drama, more conflict, more backstabbing et al when women are involved, almost always women vs women, in an office or small shop environment. Guys tend to deal with their issues and move on. Women tend to want to make a thousand cuts while tossing in salt and lemon juice as often as they can get away with it.

In such situations, I'd daresay the moderating influence has been from a man.

"Well hello, little ladies.""Cluck, cluck, cluck.""It is so good to see you all.""Bock, bock, bock.""I just want you to know, you ladies are so important!""Begock! Cluck. Cluck.""Men are such doofuses. Right, ladies?""Bock. Bock. Bock.""Good thing ya'll are around to keep us in line. Am I right or am I right?""Cluck. Cluck. Cluck."

I want someone to go on The View, give a monologue about how stupid it is while on the show, and when asked, "Well, why are you here then?" answer, "Because there's a clause in my book contract about promotion, and I'm contractually obligated to be here."

I opened a women's magazine in a waiting room not too long ago, and there was a puff piece in it about a woman I'd never heard of. There were several pictures of her with her dogs. The dogs were wearing necklaces.

Have you looked at a women's magazine lately? Look at one. Gaze upon the tedium that fills the pages. Awful.

Then you have Cosmo, which has turned into the "How to Make a Man Like Having Sex with You" magazine. There's some high aim. Who is that for? Are people really totally unaware of how to have enjoyable sex? I think that's unlikely.

He doesn't apologize for his sexism toward women, he doesn't pretend to be a defender of women.

He did that, specifically, on the View.

He did it badly --- but he does everything badly.

11/17/11 1:45 PMHe was kissing some ass, that is all. He continues to make sexist jokes, mostly directed at right wing women because he is liberal. He doesn't spare lefty women if it promises to get a laugh. He is sexist and he doesn't give a damn who he targets, I suspect Ted Nugent would never say a sexist thing toward a right wing woman.

He was kissing some ass, that is all. He continues to make sexist jokes, mostly directed at right wing women because he is liberal. He doesn't spare lefty women if it promises to get a laugh.

Amazing that such a deft comedian can't find anything funny about a liberal woman ever...ain't it? You're telling me a remotely competent comedian can't generate some Maxine Waters jokes? Nothing about Napolitano? No humor at all in the poodle they have running the DNC?

He is sexist and he doesn't give a damn who he targets, I suspect Ted Nugent would never say a sexist thing toward a right wing woman.

So he's just like Bill Maher is what you're saying. Except he was good at what he did for a living.

"You have to be out on the edge to know where that edge is."That is a great line, one that essentially absolves you of anything, and in the process implicitly elevates you to a noble, rarefied, courage-marked plane. That's what the Penn State coach-cum-pederast Sandusky, once he's on trial, should should say to the judge: that he was bravely experimenting with cross-generational male-bonding, to help all mankind, help them know where the edge is.

Amazing that such a deft comedian can't find anything funny about a liberal woman ever...ain't it? You're telling me a remotely competent comedian can't generate some Maxine Waters jokes? Nothing about Napolitano? No humor at all in the poodle they have running the DNC?

11/17/11 2:01 PMWhat part of this did you not understand Dam?

I said; He doesn't spare lefty women if it promises to get a laugh. He is sexist and he doesn't give a damn who he targets.

Reading over this thread, Dennis made the best point, I think. Rape - despite the odious Goldberg - is rape. A violent, hateful act. Prison rape or redneck rape (remember "Deliverance?") is a joke, because it's expected no man worthy of thename would allow himself to be in a situation where he could be raped; if he is, then it's his own fault and he deserves the punishment. Whereas, since a woman can, and many are, easily taken by force (the weaker sex, as it were), the idea / act of raping a woman is not much of a subject for a joke.

Interpolation - rape fantasies are something else altogether. Everyone fantasizes about something, but to fulfill those fantasies requires a willing partner; fantasizing about rape and then going to do it is not fulfilling the fantasy. It is a violent, criminal act.

What Allie has completely blown past in her rush tu quoque is that Maher shouldn't have been joking about rape, period. A gentleman does not make those sort of jokes about a lady.

I suspect Nugent was joking about riding a shotgun rather than a broomstick re: Hillary, but as a gun is such a phallic symbol, it was a bad thing for him to do.

"He doesn't spare lefty women if it promises to get a laugh."

I have nothing but time, Allie. Find me a moment where Maher made a loathsomely sexist / rapist joke about Chelsea and got no blowback from it. Or Maxine Waters. Or Nancy Pelosi. Or any other significant "lefty" woman.

I suspect that, rather like the thread where I asked you for a definition of "rich" versus "super rich," you'll do no such thing.

There are no lefty women to target since they're all brilliant geniuses or something. You see, conservative women are such flaming dunces that they MUST be attacked by lefty comedians 24/7 for the GOOD of the nation.

It is creepy, especially the focus on rape. It’s really weird to think “I disagree with this person’s politics, I hope they get gang raped.” That isn’t a normal thought process and it shouldn’t be acceptable in polite society, even from supposed ‘comediennes’.

...can you point to the violence with telling her to ride a broomstick/rifle away? As compared, of course, to wanting somebody to get RAPED.

Seriously. Also, Ted Nugent says goofy stuff all the time and he doesn’t have a tv show. He doesn't act like he's the smartest guy in the room either, he just seems to want to be left alone in the wilderness. Ted Nugent loves his guns, but that doesn't mean he wants hillary to die.

Here's one for starters, not as vile as a rape reference though. I never disagreed that his comment wasn't vile. My point is that Elizabeth needs to grow a thicker skin and not let comments from a famous sexist comedian get under her skin so badly.

Maher is a douche but as a stand-up comedian, he's no doubt put hecklers in their place before. I've seen enough live shows to know that hecklers are asking for trouble if they take on a real pro. Maher is a pro. And a douche.

Hasselbeck used a lefty tool to try and beat a lefty. Nice try, but if it doesn't work it's a big fail.

Re 'the edge,' knew I heard it from BM before:"Professor you walk out on the edge there, I don't always agree with you but somebody's gotta walk out on the edge to know where it is."-- Maher at the end of a reverent interview of Ward Churchill back in '05.http://onegoodmovemedia.org/movies/ogm/wardchurchill.htmlOf course, Maher only respects certain edges, viz. anti-American, anti-patriotic, anti-Christian. I.e. the politically-correct edges.

. I've seen enough live shows to know that hecklers are asking for trouble if they take on a real pro. Maher is a pro.

Was a pro, at least in regards to stand up. The problem is that dealing with hecklers is a lot like working out. If you don't exercise that muscle, it will start to get flabby. I'm not sure Bill has to contend with enough hecklers anymore to keep a heckler six pack, so to speak.

... Barbara Walters butts in to talk about herself ...She butted in, moreso, to save Maher, as she sensed that he, a member of her tribe, was in peril, and that he needed time to collect his thoughts and respond to the enemy-woman as effectively and powerfully as possible.Conversely, had Maher been of the enemy tribe and in the same predicament she would have stared daggers at him, contemptuously, trying to make him quiver and squirm.

There has always been more drama, more conflict, more backstabbing et al when women are involved, almost always women vs women, in an office or small shop environment. Guys tend to deal with their issues and move on. Women tend to want to make a thousand cuts while tossing in salt and lemon juice as often as they can get away with it.

My wife was just complaining about some kind of this-and-that between women where she works.

"... My point is that Elizabeth needs to grow a thicker skin and not let comments from a famous sexist comedian get under her skin so badly..."

Actually you make a good point. Maybe everyone should grow thicker skin and quit crying sexism, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, bigotry and quit being perpetual victims over every real or perceived slight.

Naturally liberals couldn't do this since they've created a lucrative industry out of it but I challenge you, Allie, to bring this message to your fellow liberals and lay the foundation so one day you guys will mature.

‘If you were on a sinking ship and yelled, “Women and children first!” how much feminist opposition do you think you’d get? . . . Women want to fight men for equal pay, but how often do they fight a man for the check? . . . And any man who questions a woman’s physical capabilities gets branded a sexist — but who do they call when there’s a spider to be killed? Convenient feminism — crackpot theory or dangerous lunacy?’Bill Maher

Although I'm not a fan of Maher, he needs to be defended here. In order for comedians to be funny, they need to push the envelope. That is the beauty of comedy. Many of the greatest bits are "offensive." Bernie Mac joked about beating children. Chris Rock mocks prison rape. Just because we may not agree with Maher's political positioning, or his irritating personality, we shouldn't ask him to apologize for doing his job - trying to make people laugh.

11/17/11 3:19 PM Yes the point being that Megan Kelly is a CONSERVATIVE, a liberal woman, Jane Harmon, defended her against Bill Maher's sexist comments. So the idea that all liberals are hypocritical in that they wouldn't condemn sexist remarks from either source,liberal or conservative, simply is not true.

Instead of considering what Hasselbeck was saying, Walters saw only the danger presented: the show might suddenly have substance that she didn't control. She reacted to that by minimizing Hasselbeck's position...and Hasselbeck caved soon after.

I'm so glad to see clips from the View. Reminds me of why I don't watch TV.

By the way, I think Barbara has the beginnings of a bald spot up top. That has to be difficult to deal with for her.

Tosh is a genius. Having listened to some of his off-stage interviews and such, I'm still not quite sure where his politics are...he may indeed not care much either way. I honestly think this is one of those guys that just cares about what's funny to him or not. The various segments of Tosh.0 are proof of that.

As for Palin, I think he goes after whoever is primarily in the news at the moment. He's been viscous with Obama and then has a look on his face like he's daring the crowd to boo him.

I used to think Christopher Titus was like that and maybe for a while he was. I still think he's more of a pragmatist than anything, but in the last year or so he's been coming down more on the moonbat side of things.

It was always funny when one of his guests actually SAID something politically incorrect. The look of sheer panic on Maher's face was priceless.

My favorite was when Ray Bradbury was a guest and replied to Maher's "we can all agree that sexual harassment is bad" but saying "I don't. I think sexual harassment is great." Maher was rendered speechless.

"I'm so glad to see clips from the View. Reminds me of why I don't watch TV."

OMG truer words never spoken... I am surprised that Hasselbeck is still putting up with the nonsense on that show. From 'rape rape' to the idiocy of the self-fellating Bill Maher (he is 'funny' only to adolescents) and the 'poster girl' for PMS, Joy Behar.

Kudos to Hasselbeck for standing up and 'reigning in' the petulant Maher.

Maher's smart, though, in the sense that he portrays himself as the sexy-radical-progressive-iconoclast, as the perpetually cool, slick-haired, game-pushing, bachelor-playboy. Albeit short. If he were the exact same person and held the exact same views but identified as a conservative, instead of a progressive, he'd be portrayed by the conventional-wisdom media, considering his age, as a pathetic, lecherous cad.

BTW, there's a lengthy, obsequious, article about Maher in the latest Newsweek, which keeps coming unbidden to my house. His rants reflect a person who certainly hasn't thought deeply about the issues.

In particular, I like to think that the Founding Fathers would have been pleased to see the Tea Party exercising their First Amendment right "peaceably to assemble" and it's the liberals of the 21st century, borrowing 50 cents of every dollar the federal government spends, who would receive the Founding Fathers scorn.

When he says, "You'll like this," it's because the females in his echo chamber always pretend to like it when he pretends to flatter them with what he thinks they like, which is to put men down at the expense of women.

The thing that bugs me the most about Bill Maher the pose of edginess (all that "Politically Incorrect" BS), when in reality he has never in his life uttered a word that wasn't calculated to get applause from the audience in front him. He's a coward pretending to heroism.

I will never be Bill Mahar. I am a man.

Without feminism's special pleading, and the asinine rules and laws to support it, men ARE the center of everything.

Men are now living in an alternate universe of bullshit.

As Camille P[aglia famously said, if women ruled the world, we'd still be living in grass shacks.

Our present condition is as good an example of that maxim as I can find. We've become a pathetic people under feminism, with women as worthless as the men feminism produced, and Western society and culture reduced to irrelevancy.

Whoever said "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" should have immediately gotten her ass kicked by a man - ruthlessly - as a statement on her true worth in the real world.

In the real world, women ain't shit - and they know it. Men, whether stronger or weaker, have to live with the knowledge of who we are in the world. Women only pretend, and - like Europe being smug about "soft power" when we saved their ass by kicking it - seem to think either no one understands the truth or will openly say it. Those days are numbered.

When was the last time you saw a woman put her life on the line for anything? Truly fight - physically, not with guns - for anyone or anything? What was the last truly bright idea presented by a woman? I'll wait.

Getting lectured to by people who are mostly manipulative, and otherwise taking up space, gets old. Any woman who really believed in Grrl Power would demand we get rid of the BS of feminism so they can prove they can hang with any man. Otherwise it's all talk. And empty talk at that.

We don't need women to moderate us, we need them to get real.

I know women who are respectable, as one would respect a man, but, today, they are so rare they might as well be unicorns.

Allie said...My point is that Elizabeth needs to grow a thicker skin and not let comments from a famous sexist comedian get under her skin so badly.

Is that right? Some comedian posits that she be subjected to gang rape for a laugh from the audience, and she should grow a thicker skin?

And BTW: since he never brought up the timeline or disputed the subject under discussion, it was rape being discussed.

Tell you what, Apple Bottom, you hypocrite. You've brought up your daughter many times on this site. You go into a towering protective snit twisting whatever someone says when questioning your rationale for bringing your daughter up as something 'beneath your contempt' I believe were your words.

So let's posit a comedian of conservative bent, say Dennis Miller, makes a joke about the Afghani navy, Taliban seamen (semen) and female navy medics tied to the ground.

Let's further posit that your skin is thick enough to get over the implication without taking offense.

"Any woman who really believed in Grrl Power would demand we get rid of the BS of feminism so they can prove they can hang with any man. Otherwise it's all talk. And empty talk at that.

We don't need women to moderate us, we need them to get real."

I think I agree with this, but then I find most "female" stuff insipid.

To address the two sort of separate but related points... I think that the BS isn't just about changing the playing field so that women dominate. Not JUST that. I think it's about redefining virtue a particular way in an even larger context. We're encouraged to value passivity. In some ways it is very odd. It's sort of a twisted humility. Don't think too much of yourself, while thinking everything you do is wonderful. Have a trophy for participating, thank you! Don't shine too bright, while you're at it. But absolutely women get this message *too*. Don't be too proud, don't build anything too large, don't dream too big: look at the minutia, the details, the small picture, the most important thing you can do is care and then whine if your contribution is dismissed by some hater.

We aren't supposed to moderate men. What a horrible idea. What about inspire, lift up and support? And you know, the guys can do the same. Just now, certainly, our society seems to be very much into suppressing men, so I'm fine with talking about it in terms of men, but I think it's all of us. Let's all be proud and dream large dreams and find some hubris in order to defy the gods.

B said;Allie said...My point is that Elizabeth needs to grow a thicker skin and not let comments from a famous sexist comedian get under her skin so badly.

Is that right? Some comedian posits that she be subjected to gang rape for a laugh from the audience, and she should grow a thicker skin?

And BTW: since he never brought up the timeline or disputed the subject under discussion, it was rape being discussed.

Tell you what, Apple Bottom, you hypocrite. You've brought up your daughter many times on this site. You go into a towering protective snit twisting whatever someone says when questioning your rationale for bringing your daughter up as something 'beneath your contempt' I believe were your words.

So let's posit a comedian of conservative bent, say Dennis Miller, makes a joke about the Afghani navy, Taliban seamen (semen) and female navy medics tied to the ground.

Let's further posit that your skin is thick enough to get over the implication without taking offense.

Right.

11/17/11 7:57 PMIn response to your comment here, I'm going to do exactly what I said Elizabeth should've done, which is, consider the source, and blow it off. 'Nuff said.

The thing that bugs me the most about Bill Maher the pose of edginess (all that "Politically Incorrect" BS), when in reality he has never in his life uttered a word that wasn't calculated to get applause from the audience in front him. He's a coward pretending to heroism.

Lol. The conservative mind interprets satirical humor as an exercise in conformity.

Interesting. Assuming that's the proper time line, why didn't he respond to Hasselbeck by saying that at the time of joke, the assault had not taken place?

Probably because he had been spending the better part of the year interviewing hundreds of interesting guests and writing hundreds of new jokes, and not mapping out a defense strategy in anticipation of yet another ignorant conservative choosing to quietly nurse a grudge and feign a grievance out of thin air in defiance of the facts.

I mean, if he had to do that, he would never sleep! Or eat! And neither would any of us! Conservatives are always coming up with some kind of fact-free, ignorant fantasy to feel aggrieved about.

It reflects well on Maher that he assumed she might have had a point. It's just too bad he forgot that she wasn't likely to have her facts, though.